Changing From Bottled Spring Water With High Nitrate to Tap Water With High pH

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I am new to fishkeeping and over the past several months I have successfully cycled 4 tanks that I have been filling with bottled ...

Changing From Bottled Spring Water With High Nitrate to Tap Water With High pH

I am new to fishkeeping and over the past several months I have successfully cycled 4 tanks that I have been filling with bottled spring water. The water parameters in my cycled tanks are: pH-7.4 Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-40. The Nitrate level of the spring water straight out of the bottle is @30ppm.

I would like to switch my water source to plain tap water with the following paramaters: pH-8.8 Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-0.

Is it possible to safely change the water over to tap water with such a high pH level or do I need to use something to adjust & regulate the pH before each PWC? Would it be better to use half bottled/half tap? Through research I have read that fish can adjust to different pH levels but I'm afraid that the 8.8 will be too high? Thanks for the help!

But really, if you want more neutral water then you'll have to play chemist. You might want to look into a holding tank from which you can pump water to the tanks, that way you can get the water where you want it and move it. Probably easier to do with a larger volume of water, too.

Your other option would be to get an RO machine. An investment, but you can be sure the water you get is pure and neutral. Will also be good for drinking water so it's dual purpose

I did purchase a couple of 5 gallon buckets and mix up a batch of lower pH water using Seachem Neutral Regulator. It required double the recommended dose to get to 7.4-7.8. I spoke with a company rep who said that shouldn't adversely affect my fish. I also contacted the water company about the GH level which is 100ppm-soft. I think the lower GH reading helps stabalize the effects of the Neutralizer.

Does an RO machine lower pH? I wouldn't mind investing in one. In the long run it would save a lot of hassle and money. Plus, our water tastes terrible so it would benefit us earth dwellers too!

KH level tells you how stable ph changes will be in your tank. My guess would be that your KH is low and that changes made to ph via products made to raise or lower ph would not be very stable. More permanent adjustments can be made through the use of buffering materials such as substrate, peat, etc. Sorry, I'm not very familiar with the various methods...just know they're out there. The best choice is usually to stock according your source water chemistry. Of course, that can be very limiting at times.

Need to know KH and GH of current tap water. pH really does not tell you anything. Your tap water may be fine to use without changing anything but you need to know much more the pH. pH isn't as important to fish as most ppl seem to think.

RO is a hassle to use given how long they have to run and then the mixing or remineralizing. pH wise it may come out around neutral then RO goes acidic pretty quick if its left out. Straight RO is not suitable for drinking water.